New Life
by Fiberseptik
Summary: An unintended use of Izanagi lands Madara in a whole new world. Watch as he makes a new life for himself and finds new purpose.
1. Chapter 1

He remembered betrayal. Black Zetsu had speared him through his heart and something had completely overtaken his body. Whatever it was, it wrecked his body, his chakra, everything. Afterwards, he could barely retain consciousness. He remained in that black void until he was spit out. Summoned by the Sage of Six Paths, he had one final conversation with Hashirama before he finally lost consciousness.

* * *

Madara woke up once more. His body still ached, but no longer did he feel like he was on the brink of death; now he just felt incredibly sore. He felt for his chakra but he could barely mold any. His body still sore and shaky, he sat up on the bed he was lying on. Looking around, he noticed one of his eyes was blind, he saw that he was in a strange room with what looked like various medicines and medical equipment. The style was different from anything he had seen.

It was clear that he was not in the afterlife, not that he remembered what that was like anyway. The living are unable to comprehend the realm of the dead. The blind eye indicated the possibility of Izanagi having been used, though he didn't remember activating it himself. In the middle of his pondering, a pink-haired woman walked into the room and came to a halt, clearly surprised by his being awake.

Her surprise quickly turned to irritation. "Well, it looks like you're finally awake. What hell happened to damage your body so badly?"

"...What?" Unfortunately, Madara could not understand a single word of what she was saying. "You wouldn't happen to understand what I'm saying, would you?" He attempted to communicate with her in his own language, but she was not familiar with it either. Verbal communication was quickly replaced with written language, which was finally recognizable to Porlyusica. In her medical research, she had encountered the orient script several times. Over the years she had studied the text and become fluent in the written language.

Madara had managed to vaguely explain his situation to Porlyusica. She was told of his participation in a battle and of the damage done to his body in the process. Porlyusica knew that there was more to the story, but she did not really care to pry into it. Madara gave off no hostile vibes. Truthfully, Madara was just lost and saw no reason to confront the person who had clearly saved his life.

Porlyusica owned a couple of books that she had gathered when she learned the orient script. She gave these to Madara, who had requested any resources that would help him learn the local language. She had no need for them any longer and saw no harm in giving him these books.

* * *

It had been clear to Madara from the very beginning that Porlyusica was not a social person. Despite this, Porlyusica had Madara remain in her house while he was recovering. He acquiesced because he really had nowhere else to go. Instead, he spent his time learning the language of this land, then learning the history of the world that he had come to realize was not his own. The continents were misshapen and the governments were completely unknown to him. The chakra was substituted with what the locals called magic, which to be fair could be an applicable definition. Shinobi had had difficulty reconciling their studies of the world with what chakra could do. It seemed to be the only substance that could completely mess with their observations for unknown reasons. Magic seemed to do the same.

"Do you plan to go home after you're healed?" Porlyusica asked once, analyzing Madara for any sign of deceit. It was clear she already had an idea as to what his answer would be.

Nevertheless, Madara graced her with her answer. "I don't really have a home to go to. Even if I wanted to go back to where I came from, I'm not sure if I could."

Porlyusica seemed to accept this answer, deep in thought. Finally she came to a conclusion. "You know, I actually came to Earthland from a world called Edolas. We didn't really have innate magic over there and as a result life there was a bit dull. I eventually joined a guild called Fairy Tail. I always thought I would return to Edolas one day, but now I've had several opportunities to do so and yet I remain here."

At this point she had turned back to Madara and he could see some form of understanding in her eyes. Had something tipped her off that he was a stranger to this land? Although their backgrounds were likely different, it was clear that she had been through a similar situation as him. "Perhaps I won't feel like leaving either." He gave his response, confirming Porlyusica's implication that he was not from Earthland either.

* * *

Aside from talking to Porlyusica, Madara also worked on regaining his chakra and making a few modifications that he had not had time for in the middle of the war. His experience meddling with Hashirama's DNA and the use of his own DNA by others left him feeling sour about leaving his DNA open to experimentation. He also didn't want to take the chance of being summoned back to his home world to face the possibility of being sealed or killed. In his isolation after faking his death, he had been working on a seal that would serve this function. It was based off of secrecy seals. Now he had the time to complete the seal. Thus, he completed a seal that would obfuscate his DNA.

He also worked on molding the zetsu cells in his body to better integrate them into his body. Kabuto had just slapped them onto his chest without any care to hide them or make them look presentable; this was good enough for an Edo Tensei body that could repair itself. However, as a living being he would benefit more from integrating the zetsu cells into his internal organs, which had no way to heal themselves, rather than his chest.

* * *

Madara was sick of staying in one room constantly. Despite still having a weak body, He felt he was good enough to leave. Porlyusica disagreed, though she didn't really force him to stay. Giving Madara enough medicine to survive, they parted ways. He had asked for the bill for his treatment but she had ignored him. Regardless, he would find some way to pay her back in the future.

Walking through the forest, he took in the nature of this new world for the very first time. He had been cooped up for his entire stay at Porlyusica's due to the work he was doing. Now that he was out, he felt free for the first time in his life. As a child, he was expected to fight on the battlefield and as he grew older he gained the responsibility of leading his clan and then protecting the best interests of the village. Even after deserting Konoha, he had been obsessed with his plans. With his lineage and power, he felt he had the responsibility to save the world from itself. Despite failing to succeed at his goals, he had somewhat contributed to the cooperation of the villages and hopefully less bloodshed in the future. Regardless, his talk with Hashirama allowed him to feel secure that the future was in the hands of the two brats who had clashed with him. His methods were too flawed. His faith in his methods unjustified.

Now that he was free, he didn't know what to do. He jumped to the trees, looking to leave the forest. Eventually he reached a town. The architecture was definitely much different than that of the Elemental Nations. Leaving the forest, he entered the town, observing the people around him. When he had woke up in this world, all he had were his pants. Porlyusica had given him a very basic set of clothes, consisting of a brown robe and and beige pants. He needed some more clothing, weaponry, food, money, and something to carry all of that. Not in the mood to go around stealing, he looked for some way to earn money.

There seemed to be many menial jobs available, but he didn't feel like they made good use of his skillset. Along the way, he had checked out a mage's guild called Twilight Ogre, but it seemed like joining a major guild like that would restrict him far too much. He wanted a small guild where he could earn a sizeable sum of money without people bothering him too much about it. There was only one other guild in the town, but it seemed to have a poor reputation. However, it was the same guild that Porlyusica had mentioned she had been a part of so it couldn't be too bad.

* * *

He made his way to Fairy Tail's guild hall. Looking around, he saw nothing as grand and flashy as Twilight Ogre's guild hall. Instead, he saw a tiny tavern with Fairy Tail's symbol on the front. Stepping inside, he could see few people mulling about. However, they quickly turned to look at him. They seemed apprehensive of him. Perhaps he gave off a threatening vibe?

He addressed the group in front of him. "Hi, I was told of this guild by Porlyusica. I'm looking for the master of the guild."

An elderly looking man responded. "The names Macao. What business do you have with the guild?" Truthfully, he wasn't too old, but he seemed far too tired.

"I'm looking for a guild to join. I need money and I believe my skills would be valuable to this guild considering the condition it's in." Madara stated his true intentions to the guild, having no need to lie about his purpose here. "You guys looks like you need more people earning money for the guild."

"Don't you know about our reputation? Why would you choose this guild over others?" Macao didn't understand why this stranger would choose this guild over another, more popular one. Even with his connection to Porlyusica he should realize that he would have an easier time in a bigger guild. From the looks of it, this new guy was fairly confident about his power.

"Does it really matter which guild I choose. I can choose whatever jobs I want, no?" Madara had done a little bit of information gathering about the structure of legal guilds in this world. He realized that as long as he himself had a good reputation he would attract good jobs. Bigger guilds would pass along their best requests to their veteran members, but in a guild like Fairy Tail the jobs would be his to pick.

Macao stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then seemed to come to a conclusion. "Alright then, what's your name and what kind of magic do you use?"

"I'm fairly good at a few different elemental magics such as fire, wood, earth, and water. Other than that I mainly specialize in physical combat. I know a few more tricks, but that should be enough to give you an idea of what I can do." Madara had long decided to pass off his ninjutsu as magic. He didn't feel like explaining the details of him coming from another world, even though there was a chance that they knew about Edolas. Hopefully, he could do some basic A-rank missions while regaining his strength. By then, he will have proven his abilities and have become invaluable to the guild.

"So many elements! I myself specialize in fire. You seem like you know what you are doing. I'm surprised a fella like you isn't already part of a guild." Macao was still a bit suspicious of this stranger.

"I'm actually not from this kingdom. I was injured and found by Porlyusica. I have no interest in returning and thought to make a new life for myself here."

"Well, that's good enough for me. Welcome to Fairy Tail! Kinana will get your guild tattoo." Madara got a purple tattoo on his forearm and signed a few papers qualifying him to take jobs as part of the guild. He then went on to start picking a job to do. However, since it was his first time, Macao asked Max to take a job with him. They eventually chose some simple bodyguard job for a group of merchants.

* * *

Madara found himself riding some vehicle alongside Max. He had learned that Max used sand magic, which reminded of the Kazekage he had fought. It looked like he actually controlled the element itself rather than controlling it by proxy. He wondered if that would change anything about the element. Unfortunately, they hadn't been attacked by anyone yet, so he was stuck on the carriage blowing off time until the mission was over. However, just as he was cursing the peacefulness of the world, the carriage shook. It seemed like something had attacked the group. Outside of the carriage, it looked like Max was fending off some bull-like beast. He seemed to be handling the situation fine, but there were more monsters coming from another angle. Madara leaped forward, deciding to engage these beasts with taijutsu.

He collapsed the skull of the first beast with a swift palm strike, pierced the brain of another with the horn of the first creature, and tossed the two beasts into the remaining beasts. As the group of beasts attempted to regain their bearings, he set them aflame with a wave of fire. In front of him, the forest burned and the corpses turned to ash. He looked over to Max and saw that sand wizard had easily buried the beasts in his sand. The merchants seemed to be safe and there were no new beasts. Madara turned back and put out his fire with a water release technique.

"Seems like you weren't kidding when you said you were proficient in multiple elements," said Max as he walked up to Madara. Madara simply nodded as they went back to the carriages. The rest of the trip went well, and Madara and Max returned to Fairy Tail with a nice lump of cash. Max told Macao the details of the mission and Macao cleared Madara for solo jobs. Before choosing another job however, Madara decided to setup a residence for himself. Since he didn't really own any land yet, he created a small, wooden house in the trees of the forest nearby. Then he went window shopping for weapons, want to get an idea of how much money he would need to get any decent equipment.

* * *

Madara spent his time doing jobs, earning cash, and setting up a home for himself in Magnolia. He had restored the guild hall and had created additions to it using his wood release techniques. Thankful for the help, Macao had granted Madara a rent-free abode in one of the rooms of the guild. Madara had declined, citing his need for some privacy. Madara used his savings to buy some plot close to the guild and set up an elaborate underground structure. Above ground, it looked like a small house, but a secret passageway would take him to a large complex underground. There, he set up training rooms, study rooms, etc.

Aside from his personal projects, he used his money to help bring the guild out of debt. He didn't need to, but it gave him something to spend his money. He realized that he didn't really need as money as he had gathered. However, helping the guild would mean they would get better jobs requests.

* * *

Madara found himself training some of the guild members in his free time. His trainees included Laki, Romeo, Jet, Droy, and Vijeeter. Max also sparred with him from time to time, but he didn't actually train him.

Currently, Madara was engaging the 6 i battle. He found that all of them except for Max used magics that could be found in his own fighting style. Droy used plant magic that had similar flexibility to his Wood release trees. Laki used actual wood magic, but it was far more stiff and less alive than his own nature, Jet had speed magic similar to his shunshin and Romeo used fire magic, though it was much stranger than his own. At times, he wondered why it was even called fire. His sticky fire was just glorified glue. Madara was very amused by Vijeeter's magic. He had always thought of taijutsu as a sort of dance and Vijeeter's magic embodied that perfectly.

He found himself weaving through various attacks. Jet and Vijeeter were tag-teaming him with a variety of taijutsu moves. He effortlessly deflected their attacks onto one another. They had not yet mastered the art of working in sync. Droy was controlling the terrain with his plants in order to hinder Madara's movement. It was clear that the overweight man was more accustomed to working with Jet than Vijeeter, as Vijeeter found himself tumbling through the vegetation every now and then. Laki and Romeo were simply blasting him with combo attacks, which created fiery wood, whenever he found himself detached from the taijutsu bout. Max was clearly preparing some attack, as he wasn't actively participating in the offense mounted against him.

Madara was curious as to what Max was up to, but unfortunately he didn't want to help Max develop bad habits. An experienced enemy wouldn't let Max just execute his big attack that easily. Sending Jet and Vijeeter flying with two kicks, Madara rushed towards Max while deflecting the oncoming attacks with a wind jutsu.

Max saw Madara bull-rushing towards him and felt some apprehension. He was sure that this would hurt. Fortunately, Madara seemed to have fallen into their trap. Max took the hit with a shield of sand, though Madara's fist still made it's way through to hit his guard. Max immediately captured Madara's arm with the sand that was around his arm. Immediately after, vines sprouted out of the sand, rapidly trapping Madara's limbs in an effort to stall his movement. Madara generally used hand signs to execute his magic, but he couldn't do that if his limbs were trapped. Laki created a prison chamber surrounding Madara with her wood, and Romeo blasted the only opening with the strongest fire he could muster up. Droy used a second layer of plants to begin crushing the chamber after Romeo ran out of energy. Although it may seem like overkill, Madara had proven himself to be extremely difficult to put down. They didn't expect this attack to kill him, but they did expect it to injure him at least a little. Hopefully, the damage would be enough for Jet and Vijeeter to more easily match him in physical combat.

When their attack ended, they saw a wooden mannequin of Madara that had some damage to its body. "Was he using some sort of puppet the whole time?!" Max yelled towards his guild mates.

"It's a wood clone. I swapped places with it while rushing to hit Max." Madara's voice came from behind them, surprising them as they had completely failed to notice him. "Your teamwork has improved, but your attacks are too predictable. That wouldn't be as much of a problem if you were able to overpower me, but since you can't you need to be more clever with those abilities."

"You're as skilled as always, Madara. How about you all take a break now and come back to the guild now. We got some food cooked up." Wakaba had apparently been watching their fight and had chosen to make his appearance now that it was over.

* * *

Back at the guild, Macao was preparing to talk to Madara. The guild's reputation had increased recently and he had no doubts that it was because of Madara. Twilight Ogre was still as greedy as always, but they were far less confrontational than before. Madara had scared, despite never really laying a hand on them. The first time they had come to trash the guild while Madara was there, he made them reimburse the guild for the damage they had caused. This had decreased their debt a minor amount, but the psychological blow was far more impactful. Somehow, Madara had talked the Twilight Ogre guild master into agreeing with his terms, even getting the interest decreased a bit. Ever since then, they had been able to pay the debt back in relative peace.

Anyway, thanks to Fairy Tail's improving reliability, they had once again received an S-class job request. They didn't have any S-class members currently, but Macao knew Madara could do it.

The group that had been training walked into the guild. They were clearly roughed up a bit, but they seemed fine otherwise. Madara was untouched, not counting the dirt that clung to his clothing. As they began eating, Macao brought up the S-rank job request.

Madara showed some clear interest in his eyes when the topic came up. "I see. No one in this guild is qualified to take it though, unless something has changed."

"We both know you've been having an easy time with all of your jobs so far. In light of that, your combat prowess, and your experience, I want to offer you a promotion to the S-class." Macao gave his formal invitation.

"I accept. These jobs have been far too boring. The S-class has several ranks within itself, right?" Madara knew that S-rank jobs alone wouldn't be enough to challenge him. He had recovered a lot of his strength since he had arrived in this world. He was itching for some real battle. He had heard of certain S-class jobs that were considered too difficult for even most S-rank mages to complete. He wanted them.

"Yes, there are certain decade and century quests. These have an extremely high mortality rate compared to most jobs. Even back in our prime, we didn't have many mages that took on those kinds of jobs. I doubt that'll stop you though."

"You are correct. Judging from the jobs that I've taken so far and the missions I had back where I came from, Those jobs should be more in line with my capabilities."

The guild celebrated their newest S-class mage, drinking until they passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

The people of Magnolia had been astonished when they woke up one morning and saw a gigantic structure that could only be described as a tree house high above the trees in the forest. It was truly magnificent and could only have been constructed through magic. The Fairy Tail banner hung proudly from the structure and nostalgia welled in the hearts of the citizens. It had been so long since Fairy Tail had been the pride of their town.

They had heard of a new member in Fairy Tail. However, unlike the previous powerhouses of Fairy Tail he kept a low profile. Thus, he was not featured in many magazines and gossiped about. However, when they heard that Fairy Tail had fulfilled their debt, they could no longer ignore this stranger. It was said that he single-handedly paid back the fortune owed by Fairy Tail. More so, it appeared that he had scared Twilight Ogre into submission. No longer did they flaunt their strength around town. Instead, they stayed mum and went about doing jobs every now and then. Several members had reportedly left in fear of Fairy Tail's retribution.

The townspeople wondered if Fairy Tail would give the Grand Magic Games another shot. Despite their recent success, the general public across the kingdom would likely still look down on Fairy Tail.

* * *

Madara still felt bored. Despite the renovation of Fairy Tail, the guild still felt like it was missing something. Fortunately, he didn't feel the need to burn it to the ground and start anew like he did with the Leaf Village. They guild members still seemed to be attached to their missing members. Despite the high likelihood that they were dead, the guild still believed that they would come back. Madara doubted, but he didn't completely disregard the possibility. Apparently, the energy readings around the missing island and details behind the attack were unusual. He had read the reports from the members of Blue Pegasus and it seemed like there was an unknown variable involved in the situation. He was more interested in the Dragon Acnologia however. The beast reminded him of a Tailed Beast. He wanted it as a pet. Unfortunately, since the dragon likely lacked a chakra network genjutsu wouldn't be very helpful.

He was interested in chasing down Acnologia. Although he had first thought the Tailed Beasts to be stupid creatures, he eventually learned of their sapience. It was likely that Acnologia was somewhat intelligent. It would have caused far more destruction if it were a mere animal. Unfortunately, his power was nowhere near what it once was. He doubted he could capture the beast without sustaining critical injuries. Thus, he studied the most readily available source of power to him, natural energy. Although he had been able to control the Sage chakra he absorbed from Hashirama, that chakra was readily molded before he got it. He didn't know how to actually mold the Sage chakra himself, though he had certain theories. He had heard rumors that failure to mold the chakra properly would have severe consequences. Without some form of instructor, Madara would be putting himself at risk. However, Hashirama learned the technique on his own and if Hashirama could do it then Madara would be able to as well.

Studying the energy content of his surroundings, he not only understood the flow of natural energy but also the flow of ethernano. They seemed almost one and the same, yet completely distinct energies at the same time. He theorized that since he was in a different universe the properties of the universe were different as well. Thus, natural energy wouldn't be the same as it was in the Elemental Nations. Further analysis of his data showed that natural energy was most abundant in inanimate objects, while it tended to avoid living creatures. Animals and even plants are constantly moving relative to the planet they are on. Thus, natural energy may be attracted to a still state. Madara doubted he could achieve the complete stillness that something like a rock could achieve. However, if he were closer to that state perhaps he could pull in more Natural energy.

His experiments lead to daily meditation sessions. While he was completing jobs, he would use every opportunity to practice tuning into natural energy. Progress was slow and he occasionally sprouted branches from his body. He would get lost in his sessions and would find birds resting peacefully on his new limbs.

* * *

Madara jumped from tree to tree as he chased the remaining members of the Dark Guild he was contracted to hunt down. They were real scum, running operations from smuggling illegal drugs to human trafficking. The majority of them were weak, but their master had a little fight in him. He used some form of acid magic, which could counter several of his ninjutsu. It also served as excellent armor to keep Madara from slaughtering him with his fists.

Two thugs let loose with a barrage of bullets from the back of two motorcycles. The bullets shredded the tree as Madara fell back under cover and slipped beneath the Earth. Spears of Earth jutted out of the ground, spearing the motorcycles and tossing the mages about. As Madara unearthed himself, a wave of acid flooded the area. He deflected the acid with a wave of water. The two attacks collided, causing an explosion. Two of the dark mages met their end in the blast. Madara used his Susano'o to survive the explosion, but immediately collapsed to his knee afterwards with his Susano'o crumbling. _My body still isn't accustomed to forming the Susano'o again._ For some reason, the Susano'o triggered his entire nervous system, just as it had when he had first learned how to manifest the phantasmal skeleton using his Mangekyou Sharingan. However, it showed little sign of improving.

The leader of the mages used Madara's moment of weakness to attack him from his blind spot; Madara met the mage's charge with his armor. It seemed like the mage was running out of energy, as he hadn't used his acid-make magic. _Where's his lackey?_ Just as Madara recalled the existence of one other survivor, he was speared through the shoulder with a bayonet. In a fit of rage, Madara grabbed the mage by the face and tossed him into his leader. Then he took the mage's bayonet and pinned the both of them to a tree.

"You pathetic little ant. You're lucky I need you alive. Now tell me, where did you take them?" When Madara had returned to the guild after completing a job, he had noticed it was empty. Macao had left a letter, stating that Romeo was missing and they were all out looking for him. Madara had begun investigating himself, and found out that Romeo had been taken by a Dark Guild interested in his exceptional abilities as a mage. Certain countries were known for using mages as slaves, and it seemed like Romeo was headed to join their ranks. Madara had attacked the guild as soon as he found it, despite being tired from his previous mission.

"Why would I tell you? You're either going to kill us afterwards or hand us over to the Rune Knights," said the leader of the Dark Guild.

Madara held his palm to the mage's head. "You don't need to tell me anything. You just have to think about it." He created a bridge between their souls, using the connection to read the mage's mind. It seemed like Romeo had already been transferred onto a ship called the Syberian. Madara cut off the mages' legs, healing their wounds and cremating the dismembered limbs. He didn't want them escaping while he went to retrieve Romeo. He didn't have time to call the Rune Knights at the moment. Instead, he used a wind jutsu to destroy a large portion of the forest, hopefully catching the attention of the townspeople. They would call the Rune Knights to investigate the disturbance. They had likely already noticed the previous explosion, but Madara wanted to be thorough. Nevertheless, he would come back just to make sure.

He uses the summoning technique to summon a beast with wings. It looks like a reptilian creature. Madara had found it in his travels and enslaved it using his chakra receivers.

Hopping on the creatures back, he flies high, looking for the ship carrying Romeo. Eventually, he recognizes the Syberian from the dark mage's memory and dispels the beast. He lands in the water silently, manipulating the water to soften his fall. He comes up under the ship and climbs up the side. Using a technique to make him invisible, he slips onto the ship without being seen.

"Hey Billy, it's time to feed the cargo." The captain spoke to one of his crew. Madara tailed Billy as the man walked below deck, where several people were heavily constrained. It was clear that they were too chained up to even feed themselves. On top of physical chains, there were magical constraints. Checking if there was anyone else nearby and confirming that it was just Billy and the "cargo," he sealed the door behind him and incapacitated Billy. Picking up the food Billy had brought, he noticed that it was heavily laced with drugs. Madara would have to take over the ship to bring all of the captives back to shore. Using his sensory abilities, he determined the position of every member on the ship. Then he sprouted several branches and choked the crew members. They lost consciousness.

* * *

Eventually, the captives had become lucid and noticed that they were free. On top of the ship, they met Madara and Romeo vouched for his trustworthiness. They worked together to steer the ship back to Fiore.

However, on their way back, they witnessed an island rise from the depths of the ocean. They had just been lying about on the ship, treating each others' minor injuries when large waves had begun rocking the ship. Madara had used a water release technique to stabilize the ship. However, large waves threatened to flood the vessel.

"Push the waves away with large attacks!" said one of the young magi. The former captives contributed their abilities to counter the waves. Eventually, the waves subsided and the group could see an island where there hadn't been one before. Surrounding it was a magic barrier with Fairy Tail's emblem on the top. The island called to Madara and Romeo. The rest of the group also wanted to go to the island to look for any injured people.

The appearance of a girl standing on water and beckoning towards them only reinforced their decision.

Arriving on the island, the group quickly got off and followed the girl who seemed to be leading them somewhere. Romeo seemed especially eager. Madara felt a prickling sensation around his guild tattoo. Rolling up his sleeve, he could see that it was glowing slightly. It was as if someone was probing it. Was the girl doing this? He followed the group as they explored the island.

Extending his senses, he noticed that the island was saturated with magical energy. Although it was not his focus at the moment, he knew this place would be perfect for mastering his Sage mode. In his search, he found several human signs of life. Their life forces were weak at the moment, as if they were waking up from a long slumber.

They approached a pink-haired man buried in sand. Romeo had begun to outright cry at this point as he helped the man pick himself up.

"Natsu! I can't believe you're here. I was worried we'd lost you forever," he cried. Romeo hugged the aforementioned Natsu so hard that his face turned blue.

"Ro...Romeo. Let me...go...you're choking me." Natsu eventually succeeded in prying Romeo off of his body. However, he finally managed to get a good look at Romeo and exclaimed, "What the hell! You look so tall now Romeo!"

"What? I got older Natsu. How come you still look the same?" Romeo asked, his sniffling subsiding.

"Older? I don't think you can grow that much in a couple of days, Romeo. Have you been taking growth enhancement drugs?" Natsu asked as his face took on a stern appearance. "Can you get me some? I want to grow big and strong like Igneel!"

Romeo promptly laughed while tears flowed from his eyes once more. "No, no, I haven't been taking drugs Natsu. Do you really not know? It's been 7 years since you came to Tenrou island."

"S-seven years? It can't be. Last thing I remember is that bigass dragon attacking us and then we held hands and stuff and.. and what happened after that?" At this point, Natsu was quickly looking more and more troubled.

"All will be explained after we wake up the rest of your guild mates," the blonde girl intervened. She had a gentle smile on her face, happy to see the fire dragon slayer so alive and healthy. "Follow me, the others are elsewhere."

This time she left at a faster pace. Natsu, Romeo and the rest quickly followed after her, eager to see the rest of the guild on the island. They came across Lucy, Cana, Happy, Erza and the rest.

After they had finally gathered the group as a whole, Mavis began to speak. "I'm sure you are all a bit confused as to what has happened. My name is Mavis Vermillon and I am Fairy Tail's first master."

At this point, the guild was extremely shocked. The former captives from the ship had long since returned to the ship, wanting the give the guild a little privacy. Of course, Romeo remained with the rest of his guild. Madara kept his distance, though he stayed close enough to hear Mavis's explanation.

As Mavis explained the third great Fairy Magic, Madara thought of the power of bonds. The magic Mavis had used was powerful and apparently she had used it as a ghost. In the war, the blonde brat had also strengthened the bond between the shinobi of the five nations. He had spread his chakra to protect all of them and their effectiveness as a unit had increased greatly. Madara had trouble understanding this. He could understand the strength gained from protecting one's loved ones. He had fought till he had been on the verge of death to protect his clan several times from childhood. However, he had been at his strongest after he had lost his brothers and left his clan. When he had forsaken the world he had eclipsed all of them. Yet in the end, he had still lost. _What have I been doing with my life?_

He felt more tired now than he had ever felt before. No longer comfortable trespassing on the guild's reunion, he left to go back to the ship. He trusted that Romeo would bring the members there so that they could go home. _Hell, for all I know they still have their own ship that they used to travel to the island._

However, before he could get far he was intercepted by the ghost of the first master. She stared at him for a few seconds before breaking out into a soft smile. Madara simply stared back, not having anything to say.

"You're a new member of Fairy Tail, aren't you?" she asked. "There's no reason to be shy. You're part of the family now."

"It's less shyness and more respect for their reunion. I don't really know these mages, but I'll get to know them better later." Madara decided to clarify his decision.

She sighed, but accepted his answer and moved on. Giving her farewell, she disappeared and the Fairy Tail members began to talk about how they would get back.

"We don't have our ship anymore. How exactly did you get here," Makarov asked Romeo.

Romeo scratched the back of his neck while looking uncomfortable. "About that, I was actually captured by a group of dark mages and they stowed me on a ship along with a bunch of other captured mages. Madara saved us though. Oh! I forgot to tell you; he's our newest member. We didn't actually get any other new members while you guys were gone. Many of the previous ones left. Madara joined a few months ago."

"I see. I must thank this man then for saving one of our own. Where is he though? I'd like to meet him." Makarov seemed interested in this new member.

"Uh, I think he went back to the ship. He likes to keep to himself. Let's go back. There's more than enough space for you to ride with us!" Romeo seemed eager to go back. "The rest of the guild will be so happy to see you guys."

* * *

As the group went back to the ship, Makarov wondered about the changes in the world. Seven years was a long time. Romeo mentioned that many members left the guild. From what he said, it seemed like the guild hadn't fared well in their absence. It made sense since their most powerful mages were trapped. As they reached the shore of the island they saw a ship with the name _Siberian_ written on the side. It was a moderately big vessel. There were many mages aboard. The majority of them were quite young. The dark mages must have picked young mages so that they would be easier to train and control. Among them was an older man.

"Hey Madara, they're gonna need to hitch a ride on our ship," said Romeo. It seemed the man Makarov was eyeing was the Madara Romeo had spoken of.

"I was expecting that. Get on, the ship is big enough to hold all of us."

The Fairy Tail members got aboard the ship, which seemed ready to sail.

"There's just one issue. I've never really sailed before and I didn't really memorize the direction I came from when searching for this ship," said Madara. "We were just sailing randomly before this island popped up."

"It's fine, I know how to get us back to Fiore, assuming all of you are planning to go there?" Receiving nods of affirmation from the mages on board, Makarov helped them set sail for home. Once they were set, he went to have a chat with Madara.

"I heard that you are our newest member. It's a pleasure to meet you. The name's Makarov Dreyer, Fairy Tail's third master."

"Yes, I've heard quite a lot about you. You were, or should I say are, a wizard saint," said Madara.

Makarov chuckled, "I don't know if I was declared officially dead or not by the council, but they might have replaced me with another mage already." Makarov seemed truly unsure as to his position regarding his Wizard Saint title. "It's not really important though. I wanted to thank you for saving Romeo. From what I heard, he would have suffered a terrible fate had you not found him. For that, you have my most sincere gratitude."

"It was not a big deal. I would hardly let them just take him." Madara nonchalantly brushed off Makarov's thanks.

"Hmm, I like you. You give off some shady vibes, but it seems like your heart's in the right place." Makarov seemed to have concluded his judgement of Makarov. "So I heard you were an S-class mage, approved by Macao. Normally, I would test you to see if you are fit for the position, but it seems like you've already proven yourself out in the field."

"The S-class jobs haven't been particularly difficult so far. The guild might have to gain more of a public presence to get some better jobs." Madara pondered the current state of his career as a 'mage.'

"Ha! I don't think you'll have to worry about that anymore. These kids are crazy. They'll catch the public's eye in no time," Makarov stated, both amused and apprehensive of the future.

"I'll take your word for it," said Madara. Truthfully, they were a bit strange from what he could see, but so was everyone else in this world.

Madara and Makarov ended their conversation, splitting up to do their own thing as they sailed back home.

* * *

Eventually, the group arrived at Fiore, meeting a group of Rune Knights and submitting a report of their experience to the Magic Council. The returning Fairy Tail members had to confirm their existence as they were listed as missing persons that were possibly dead.

Upon returning to the guild, Makarov was the first one to comment, "The guild sure has changed a lot in the time we were gone."

"Romeo! I'm so glad you're okay." Macao embraced his son. He had gotten a message shortly before the members had arrived that Romeo had been recovered. He was worried sick. However, not only did he get his son back, but also the missing members of Fairy Tail. Today was surely a miracle.

"You all look so young! What happened?" Laki was crying tears of happiness as she embraced the group.

"A lot of things happened; we were attacked by a dark guild, a dragon, and were frozen in time for 7 years. We're all back for good now though." Makarov gave a short summary of what happened to the guild.

The Tenrou Island members settled into this new guild hall, drinking and feasting into the night. Fairy Tail was whole again.

For the first time, Madara felt like the guild was alive. What was missing had been recovered, and everyone would surely grow stronger for it. He allowed himself to join the festivities. It's not like he would get drunk anyway, as Hashirama's cells would purge the alcohol from his system.


End file.
